How do you feel right now?

[DressingGownofDoom]

I've been feeling ok up until today, but seeing the situation in Italy and still no action and lack of testing from our government - I am afraid. Not even for my own health (I'm in my thirties and I'm sure I'll be ok if I get it) but for our life as we know it, the older members of my family, and in the UK in general.

I feel as though I'm sitting watching a Tsunami that's approaching the shore.

I don’t trust BoJo in any respect

I’m mainly irritated tbh.

It does need to be taken seriously but I’m not especially worried. Good friend is a well respected Professor of Virology and although I’m not an academic I work in HE so surrounded by people who understand infections. I trust the people I work with who are all taking precautions but not hysterical. My prof friend has still traveled for work and has her children still in school. If she panics then I will worry!

Does anyone have any trusted information about the affects on children? I’ve heard a few people say that children will be ok, they are fighting it off much better than adults, but nothing from a credible source

@chocolatedaim, all the age breakdowns I have seen have 0% fatalities in the 0-5 age groups and then usually a 0.something up to 18 and very low numbers all the way up to 45/55+.

Children are honestly the best group to fall in with regards to this virus.

A slight digression to remind you kids will be kids - Chinese school children were being issued work through an app until they realised that if enough people gave it a one star review it’d be removed from the App Store

Dh thinks this is something that the government have planned so that it can wipe out the elderly and save them a fortune in pensions!

There really is no point in most of us panicing. Fit young adults will be ok and children too. Me and DH are not young and DH has health problems. We are not stupid. We have cancelled a travelling holiday in Europe. We will take sensible precautions too. But we will have to help with grandchildren so that parents can work for NHS and other essential jobs. Three of the DGC are at school and if that closes heaven knows how we will cope. Only one Adult DC has a job he can do from home. If he helps with his own and his siblings DC he won't be doing much work. Also the adults who have front line jobs in the NHS will be working longer hours maybe including nights which we will have to cover for. I'm still hoping the worst is not going to happen but I think it is.

IMO no one should be travelling for a holiday. Holidays are not a necessity. Many people never have holidays, and DC that are used to plenty may even benefit from going without. I'm going to get well and truly lambasted for saying that. I don't care! In fact I will go as far as to say those who took skiing trips etc. at half term have added to our problems. By the second half of February common sense should have told people it was risky.

I'm quite happy to KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON, but just worrying a bit how long are we likely to have to do it for?

Dh thinks this is something that the government have planned so that it can wipe out the elderly and save them a fortune in pensions!

I’m partial to a good conspiracy theory but if that was the case this is a pretty shit way to do it. (Thankfully) fatalities are not nearly enough to make a big dent in pension payments and it’s more likely the workers I.e people generating the money, will be unable to work and the global economy will take a hit.

That being said if Trump is a measure of the group of people who would set a plan like that in motion maybe it is!

For those who say there must be something they're not telling us, what do you mean? I mean, apart from downplaying the danger to avoid panic? I say this as a non-panicker, genuinely curious.

I think the fact that today they said there could be 10000 cases already shows that there has been a lot they haven't told us.

I’m going to stay calm and keep going because I really can’t see any alternative.

Ds will keep going to school until 27th March assuming they stay open. Then Easter,

We’ll take it a day at a time, keep socialising to a minimum and check on neighbours regularly. I refuse to panic in front of ds.

I'm scared. My parents are at risk and still working. I'm in 30s so would probably get through it but I'm living at home and my life would pretty much fall apart if one or both of them die.

I think it is already in the Community.

When anyone shows symptoms by self-isolating along with the whole family it ensures we all get it within that family, or are at least exposed. This will build up immunity within the UK.

I don't want it but, like chickenpox, I think we all need to be exposed to it as it is not going away.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I read here yesterday, 270,000 tests done so far to find 456 cases.

Testing 7000 people/day, or 500 people for every positive case is called "Lack of testing". I'm not following that logic.

I'm here in Ireland and schools have been closed for the next 2 weeks. Work have said they will do everything they can to help anyone that will be affected by this and facilitate everyone. Ds has a big homework pack to do at home over the next 2 weeks.
I was sent home from work yesterday with a cough that I had prior to the virus even being in this country. I have to wfh until it's gone. I have had medical treatment when I was first ill and it is nothing serious or contagious. But in order to avoid others panicking I have to stay home. In fact I was sent home mid day yesterday and there are already rumours that I had to leave for testing for the virus.

Really worried, I didn’t feel at all reassured, by the PM’s conference today.

I’m a nurse in an NHS hospital.

I’m not so much scared at the fact that we have now got a designated ward for the virus (from a few days ago of just one case in ITU) as I am at the fact there is no routine testing for it in A&E - only if your presenting condition is a very specific set of symptoms.

I feel like it’s only a matter of time until Mrs X, presenting condition a fall at home & dementia, also happens to have Coronavirus and has spent time on an open elderly care ward.

I can so easily see it happening.

I'm worried. I feel like my life is on hold. Horrible feeling.

At our local hospital, everyone presented at A&E is assumed to have CV until proven otherwise.

@lljkk You've got the number of tests out by a factor of about 10. According to today’s figures 29,764 people have been tested in the UK.

Concerned. Normal life will likely continue for another week. If we're 4 weeks behind Italy I am dreading what April brings. People are going to panic.

I’m pissed off.

D&V big and no loo roll in shops anywhere near me.

DC1 with symptoms of CV. No calpol or any children’s paracetamol in shops.
DC2 disabled and school closed, so he’s at home.

No idea what’s going to happen with work and the realities of self isolating, getting paid, not having a sickness record that counts against me etc.

Elderly, sick relatives who I care for...no idea what I should be doing.

Shut advice from the gov’t.

I’m glad BoJo feels positive about it all, though...

I think it’s all perfectly normal. Viruses have been around longer than us. It’s part of life on earth. Some of us will be lucky, others not so lucky.

But our advantage from viruses in the past is that scientists are working to create a vaccine, obviously not going to happen immediately. But it won’t wipe us out.

I keep myself healthy and havent even had so much as a cold for 3 years. That’s all I can do (along with HB chanting!)

I am much more worried about the economic impact and pleased Boris hasn’t shut everything down unnecessarily. There’s really no need at the moment, that would cause much more chaos, uncertainty and long term misery

Shutting down now is going to have far too devastating an impact on the economy, it’s a difficult one to call, but there does need to be a right time, and just because China and Italy have done it a certain way doesn’t mean they’re right. It’s widely predicted that China shut down too soon and that the virus will spiral out of control there again, and infection rates in Italy are still increasing day on day.

Fact is that people taking more personal responsibility means that shutdown becomes less of a necessity. So many employers already have staff working from home, people don’t need to go to sporting events and other crowd gatherings,Everyone needs to take some individual responsibility, and that needs to be hammered home before we start obliterating the economy by forcing people not to work and driving companies out of business. Because that’s what lockdown will mean.

And people need to stop panic buying and contributing to food shortages. And the blatantly irresponsible do need to be brought to task by e.g. their employers.

Today a cleaner went into DP’s office coughing and spluttering and with a temperature, joking about how maybe she has corona virus. The upshot of that is that two people in the office have been put at risk as they have underlying health conditions, and DP cannot come to see me this weekend because I have a serious heart condition so he can’t take the risk of passing it on to me. And it’s not just me, if he passed it to me, I have to go to hospital on Monday so I then run the risk of passing it to everyone in there, all of whom have conditions which make them vulnerable. So he has to stay away.

Going into work with symptoms should IMO be a disciplinary offence. That way companies would be less likely to have to shut down and people would be taking personal responsibility.

I am not worried or panicking, there is nothing to be achieved by doing so. I have a serious heart condition and am well aware that if I catch it I am at serious risk. But I’m also aware that life is fragile and you have to live it while you still can. So I am vigilant,Having been through everything I’ve been through with my heart I know my body. If I develop symptoms I will likely need to go into hospital. I wasn’t planning any holidays either so no issue there.

But it is what it is. I don’t want it but if I get it there’s not much I can do about it.

@Dk20 what will happen to colleagues who need to be at home for child care?

I feel like we’re experiencing our own kind of world war. I’m concerned and anxious although I have it under control at the moment but I can feel the panic rising (I suffer from anxiety and have meds that keep it under control). I’m mostly terribly worried about my mum who’s nearly 65, has bad asthma and still having to work in central London. There’s only me and mum left out of my family and I don’t want to lose her and I don’t want her to die alone in fear on a locked down ward. Sorry....I’m just quite scared and I live alone so don’t have a partner to talk to.